"That requires you to make clear publicly what the fallback position is.

"We have been waiting for over than a year now and I must say I’m not terribly impressed by how much of that fallback position has actually been stated, has been implemented and whether it’s actually being managed properly within the civil service and the government."

Barnier's acting 'like a victorious soldier'

FORMER Tory leader Michael Howard says the EU's top negotiator is acting like he won a war against Britain.

He said Michel Barnier was blocking the "amicable divorce" between the UK and Europe.

Speaking at an event in London, Lord Howard said: "Barnier seems to be acting as the representative of a country that has just won a war and is determined to exact the maximum amount of reparations from a vanquished, defeated country."

Mr Barnier - locked in talks with David Davis - has had to deny that he wants to "punish" Britain over Brexit.

He added: "I think that you need a separate team who are responsible for ensuring that if the negotiations break down in some way - and we cannot control that, we have no influence over that - then we are capable of saying we are leaving and we can trade with you on WTO terms."

John Lewis chief Sir Charlie Mayfield has also called for a serious debate on the type of Brexit Britain is planing.